Hundreds of its facilities are near HFC-free the retailer says in response to GreenAmericaorgs Cool It campaign In response to a public campaign urging it to reduce its emissions of HFC refrigerants Walmart the US-based global retailing giant said that many of its stores are close to HFC-free and that it is transitioning to low-GWP refrigerants in new and existing systems In the US we already operate hundreds of facilities stores and distribution centers that are near HFC-free and utilize ultra-low GWP refrigerants including carbon dioxide CO 2 and ammonia NH 3 said Micah Ragland director sustainability communications for Bentonville Ark-based Walmart We continue to use these facilities along with other laboratory-based tests to inform the design of our future systems Walmarts overall refrigerant strategy calls for moving away from high-GWP refrigerant gases including HFCs to refrigerant gases with low- and ultra-low GWP for new systems as they come commercially viable by 2025 said Ragland adding that Walmart was the first retailer to set an approved science-based emissions reduction plan to 2025 Walmart is also working to reduce refrigerant use and improve efficiency in current systems and install new systems that are high-efficiency and less susceptible to leaking she said The company reduced its refrigerant-related direct emissions by 10 between 2016 and 2018 she noted Last year Walmart reported operating 11 700 stores in 28 countries Ragland acknowledged that much of Walmarts refrigerants are HFCs Walmart is a member of the Consumer Goods Forum a global consortium of retailers and packaged goods companies that has pledged since 2015 that its members would take steps to cut their high-GWP emissions Ragland comments came in response a new HFC-reduction campaign launched by GreenAmericaorg a nonprofit environmental group founded in 1982 The campaign called Cool It initially targets Walmart and urges the retailer to phase out harmful HFCs track and repair its refrigerant leaks and commit to responsible disposal Walmart has known the urgency of this issue for years but has not taken serious steps to put its words into action said GreenAmericaorg on it website Were calling on Walmart to finally develop a plan to cut these harmful super pollutants from its stores On its website the group has also set up a petition form so that anyone can email this message to Doug McMillan Walmarts CEO and Kathleen McLaughlin its chief sustainability officer In the US we already operate hundreds of facilities stores and distribution centers that are near HFC-free and utilize ultra-low GWP refrigerants including carbon dioxide CO 2 and ammonia NH 3 Micah Ragland Walmart Walmart has in the past installed refrigeration systems that use HFCs as the primary refrigerant and CO 2 as a secondary fluid However it later discontinued using those systems according to multiple industry sources The company did not reply to a request for comment on its discontinuation of those systems In a 2013 report called The Dirty Dozen How your local supermarket is killing the climate the US branch of the Environmental Investigation Agency EIA said that Walmart is using a secondary loop refrigeration system that combines either carbon dioxide or glycol and HFCs in more than 125 stores and two Sams Club stores in the US One example of a Walmart store with a secondary CO 2 system is a Massachusetts Supercenter converted from a traditional Walmart The system includes a secondary medium-temperature glycol system and a secondary CO 2 low-temperature system noted Stan Shumbo VP at Colchester Conn-based Eastern Refrigeration which installed it In its 2018 Global Responsibility Report Walmart said that its engineers from multiple markets have been working on bringing distributed packaged refrigeration systems into our stores and clubs These plug and play units are poised to simplify the business of refrigeration for many of our markets in the coming years This approach to refrigeration design will support quicker installations reducing store interruptions and are packed with the latest thinking in energy efficient technology and on-board system diagnostics These systems are designed to use less refrigerant gas less copper pipe and to be simpler to maintain The report did not disclose which refrigerant it would use in these units though plug-and-play display cabinets using propane R290 have become more prevalent in Walmarts home US market The Global Responsibility Report also noted that Walmarts grocery distribution centers utilize large ammonia systems for cooling In recent years it added the company has worked with our vendors to design a smaller version that could be used in our regional distribution centers These small ammonia plants are designed to double the life expectancy of the old plants use less energy through reduced horsepower and eliminate over 200 pounds of freon Asda Walmarts retail business in the UK is testing a system called Mistral which uses chilled ducted air to cool products held display cases According to a 2017 report from the University of Birmingham UK the systems cold refrigerant gas is pumped to a large air handling unit on the roof directly above the aisles then the cold is transferred to air through a heat exchanger and the cold air is blown through ducting down to the cabinets below In the 2018 Global Responsibility Report Walmart said the Mistral system uses less refrigerant gas offers more energy savings needs less maintenance and is also much safer to operate in our stores The 2017 University of Birmingham report Retail Refrigeration Making the Transition to Clean Cold said that ASDA had converted a dozen of its stores to Mistral with one store reporting energy savings of 33 The stores used R407 refrigerant though the system could operate with any natural refrigerant it said